Tag Archive | "Sue"

While DC/Warners attempts to retain the copyright to Superman from the Siegel and Shuster estates, Marvel/Disney, it’s been ruled by a federal judge, will have a similar battle with the estate of Jack Kirby regarding a variety of heroes.

Details The Hollywood Reporter, “A New York federal judge has weighed in on an important case that could be worth billions of dollars and impact the future of Iron Man, X-Men, The Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man, and other iconic super-hero characters. The case involves the ongoing attempt by the estate of comic book artist Jack Kirby to terminate a copyright grant over his legendary work. After Kirby’s children served 45 notices of copyright termination, Marvel Entertainment sued the estate in New York District Court, seeking a declaration that the creations were ‘works-made-for-hire’ and not eligible for termination. The estate countersued, seeking its own declaration that the termination notices were served properly to Marvel. Last week, New York federal judge Colleen McMahon rejected a bid by Marvel to throw out the Kirby estate’s main counterclaim. The judge decided it wasn’t a ‘redundant’ claim, meaning she will soon have an opportunity to shake up Marvel’s universe, if she so decides, with a potentially devastating future ruling.

“In sum, the judge has narrowed the case to its most crucial issue. Both sides disagree about Kirby’s working environment in the 1950s and 1960s when he, along with Stan Lee, conceived many of Marvel’s most popular characters. The judge will soon be tasked with looking at Kirby’s work history and some of the loose contracts and oral agreements that guided his efforts in those years.”

They actually went and did it! Fox studious are now taking steps to sue a middle aged mother for 15 million. Click for the details.

I’m sure you all remember the Deapool script leak a couple of months ago. We reviewed it here at CBM, as did many other sites. Although we didn’t actually reprint or post any excerpts from the script, and gave it a glowing review, I was contacted by Fox’s legal team and asked..well, told to remove it in a pretty unfriendly manner. Well, now the same legal team are taking action against flower saleswoman and aspiring screenwriter Patricia McIlvaine. McIlvaine apparently distributed, but did not leak, the Deadpool script along with up to 100 others online. Fox don’t seem interested in pursuing whoever leaked the script, just this woman who for all intents and purposes sent it around in an email.

From McIlvaine’s site..

Two strangers knocked on her door and informed her, in front of her children, 20th Century Fox was suing her for 15 million dollars. Two hours later, after grilling her with questions for two solid hours, they left her stunned and crying in her living room staring at a business card that stated they were